Truck fire, explosion startle Shrewsbury St. area

WORCESTER — Neighbors were startled by an early morning box truck fire in front of 43 East Worcester St. that caused home-use oxygen tanks and a fire extinguisher to explode.

The truck was fully engulfed in flames around 2 Saturday morning when firefighters arrived. The truck was destroyed, and the heat of the fire melted some of the siding off a nearby building. The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to Deputy Fire Chief Geoffrey Gardell.

The explosions initially caused some concern in the neighborhood that they were at the CSX freight yard, located between Franklin and Shrewsbury streets.